So this weekend I WAS going to get cracking on that quilt I’ve been working on, but Millie had other plans. I went out on Friday to Hancock’s and bought a bunch of fabric on super sale, some of which was purple Dora the Explorer flannel that I had planned on making as a pajama set for her. Millie is currently obsessed with Dora, she made me buy her the panties and everything which is funny since we don’t ever watch it, we have no cable and it is no longer on Netflix… She saw it and demanded I made it for her RIGHT AWAY. But she didn’t want the pants and shirt type of pajamas. She wanted a proper night gown. Actually, what she described to me was more of a sari (a character on one of her favorite shows was wearing one yesterday) , but I told her that actually was just yards of fabric wrapped and draped and that she might be happier with a night dress, so she agreed.

When I was preparing the fabric, I noticed this little message on the selvage:

I thought “HA, what the heck else do people do with licensed character flannel??” then went on my merry little way cutting and sewing. I made another version of the Sally dress, with little flips here and there of the pattern. I like how that dress has no closures and thought it would be great for her to be able to get it on and off by herself. Instead of having it fully lined, I just made a facing to make it easier, put some elastic in the bottom of the sleeves to make them a little poofy, and left off the pockets. I made the skirt longer and poofier because Millie always loves a lot of material in the skirts to twirl around in.

Here is a pic of the facing I made:

Fast forward to this morning. I am an awful sleeper and woke up at 5am wide awake. My mind started to wander as it often does when I wake up at an ungodly hour and I was thinking about those pjs and the warning of sleepwear. I started to get nervous that not only was I making her a night gown out of material that clearly stated not to, but that I also made it really loose with lots of material. I had always imagined that the reason sleep wear is always supposed to be drenched with flame retardants (which I hate the thought of) or tight fitting was because static from the pajama material could cause fire in the middle of the night or something crazy. I started researching cases of children’s pajamas igniting and causes of it. Because researching grim things like this is apparently what mothers do in the middle of the night.

It turns out static is not the issue at all! Death actually doesn’t usually occur while the child is actually SLEEPING. It is because kids used to have their clothes flame up from being around candles or cigarettes or any other open flame. The cases I found had one kid dancing on the kitchen table where there was a candle, and others having to do with cigarettes.

At first I thought I would be a bad mother if I let my daughter sleep in this, but then I got to thinking more. Why would it be okay to prance around during the day in a loose fitting flowy dress but not at night? A person could be around just as much fire during the day, right? It seems silly to put the warning on only sleepwear. Furthermore, we are not a smoking family so cigarettes are never near us, candles aren’t typically lit around here, and I hardly ever have our fire going since it is a gas fire and our bill goes through the roof if I light it.

Also, Millie doesn’t actually put her pajamas on until we are upstairs and about to hop into bed. There are certainly no candles or open flames upstairs.

So I decided I feel TOTALLY comfortable about her wearing this to sleep. Parenting is all about informed choice, right? And I actually feel WAY MORE comfortable knowing this dress is not treated with chemicals.

So without further adieu, I present Millie’s new night gown, full with bed head and everything :)

Here is a close up of the sleeve, I like the extra fun it gives it:

Millie REALLY loves this, when I was done she took it and ran to her room to put it on. It is super cozy, the first flannel dress I’ve ever sewn. And, of course, Dora.

She loves the skirt and I can tell she totally feel like a princess in it. Just look at that curtsy!

Now I just have to cross my fingers that she doesn’t beg me to let her go out of the house wearing this, lol! I’m not usually one for character prints unless they are pajamas.. That and we are getting our Christmas tree today and I really hope she opts to wear something nice for the pictures and not this ridiculous Dora dress!!

*Please use your own judgement on whether or not you decide to let your children sleep in loose fitted or untreated fabric.

Haha I know it seems silly! She did end up wearing it to get the Christmas tree and there was a pit of fire to roast marshmallows, I was like be careful with your dress around the fire!!!! It would have been too ironic for the dress to burst into flames the same day! Lol